1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a security management system, an input apparatus, a security management method, and a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with an increased interest in the security of office equipment, various apparatuses to be connected to the Internet have had various security functions installed to fulfill user's requirements. For example, the security functions of a Multifunction peripheral (MFP) include, for example, user authentication, data encryption, automatic deletion of remaining data, open and close of a network protocol, and document access control.
On the other hand, when a type or a supplier of the apparatuses is different, the security resources that apparatuses handle may also be different, so that the setting items of the security may also be different. In such a case, a user may have to separately set the security of the apparatuses based on the respective security policies, and a person in charge of management of the apparatus checks whether the settings of the security are correct. As for a single apparatus alone, there is a known technique in which various security setting values of the apparatus can be collectively set by designating a desired security level from among the security levels which are defined based on the security policy (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-185814).
Specifically, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-185814 discloses a technique in which, in order to easily set the security level of the apparatus, the apparatus receives security levels based on the security policies from a user and the security specification thereof is stored and managed, so that the relationship is stored therein between the security levels, which have been set in a step-by-step manner and determined based on the security policies, the security level values corresponding to the security levels.